"Watched that in disbelief" - Jamie Carragher slams Manchester United star for shouting at Harry Maguire to win over fans
Jamie Carragher has lashed out at Andre Onana for 'disgracefully' shouting at under-fire Harry Maguire to win over Manchester United fans.
Maguire has been dealing with a difficult period of his career as he is not only being criticized by fans but also mocked. The 30-year-old received boos from his United fans during pre-season and was recently cheered by Arsenal fans in a 3-1 defeat when subbed on.
The English defender has appeared to be struggling with confidence and his performances have been underwhelming. He made a mistake during a pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund that his new teammate Onana didn't let go.
The new Manchester United goalkeeper came rushing out of his goal in a temper towards Maguire. He shouted at the former Red Devils skipper for his error that nearly led to a goal.
Carragher found the incident 'distasteful' and reckons the Cameroon international was trying to appease his new fans. He wrote for The Telegraph:
"One of the most distasteful incidents of all occurred during the friendly with Borussia Dortmund in July, when new signing Andre Onana started yelling at Maguire, in my view disgracefully playing to the gallery to endear himself to United fans."
The pundit reckons Harry Maguire should have hit back at Onana as he was still captain at the time:
"I watched that in disbelief, but it said everything about what has gone wrong. Maguire was still the club captain then. He should have reacted furiously, put Onana in his box and demanded respect."
Onana arrived at Manchester United in the summer from Inter Milan for £47.2 million. The Cameroonian shot-stopper is renowned for his passionate playing style but the incident with Maguire caused some backlash.
The 27-year-old explained why he had targeted Maguire during the friendly loss to Dortmund. He said that he demands a lot from his teammates and himself:
"I demand a lot of my team-mates because also they demand a lot, they trust in me. They play a lot of balls back to me, so I have to give them confidence and I want my players to give them to me to give me confidence."
He touched on the incident specifically by insisting that his English teammate was a good player:
"I try to talk to them a lot because I know he's a good player, he is one of the captains of the the team."
Harry Maguire was stripped of the club's captaincy by manager Erik ten Hag earlier in the summer. It came after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign in which he dropped down the pecking order behind Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez. He started just eight of 16 league games last season.
Harry Maguire explains why he stayed at Manchester United after failing to agree move to West Ham United
Manchester United appeared to be open to the sale of Harry Maguire during the summer transfer window. The Red Devils accepted a £30 million offer from West Ham United for the England international.
However, Maguire turned down a move to the London Stadium, instead opting to stay at Old Trafford. This was despite his lack of game time and he has only made a 23-minute cameo appearance this season.
Harry Maguire claims that he couldn't find an agreement with West Ham and that his club were happy for him to stay. He told Sky Sports:
"We just didn’t come to an agreement. Manchester United were happy for me to stay and I was happy to fight for my place. I want to do that and every time I train or play I will give everything."
Harry Maguire joined Manchester United from Leicester City in 2019 for £80 million. This is a world record fee for a defender but it also made it hard for him during his time at Old Trafford. He has two years left on his contract.